Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment, as examples. Semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers, and semiconductive layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon.
One of the challenges associated with semiconductor manufacturing relates to product yield and/or reliability. Consumers of semiconductor devices expect a certain level of reliability from their devices. This is even more critical when the semiconductor device is used in safety critical applications. However, a product may fail during its lifetime due to defects introduced during manufacturing.
Reliability issues may also result in failure of the process from being qualified, poor yield at the semiconductor device fabrication facility, and/or failure at the field, either of which may result in product recalls and/or loss in revenue. These problems become even more exacerbated in case of high voltage applications.